Surviving Jena Six: The Dreams of Mychal Bell

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My name is Mychal Bell and I was one of the Jena Six that was charged with attempted murder down in Jena, Louisiana in 2006. As of now, seeing that we have a black president, and with the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. tomorrow, I wanted to share with you my dream like Dr. King shared his dream with everybody. I even had the chance, although I was in shackles and handcuffs, to meet Martin Luther King III, when he came to visit me in prison. So, I feel like I have a connection to the King family.

When I look back at the day that I got in a fight with Justin Barker at my high school, I now realize that I should have done what Dr. King preached, which was non-violence. A few months before the fight, I remember seeing nooses hung from a tree at my school, and none of the few black students knew who was responsible. But, what came to my mind was images of Mississippi burning, seeing how black people were hung and killed, and it felt very disrespectful. In the small town that I grew up in, I had always felt that black people and white people didn’t get along. After all, this was Louisiana.

When I first entered prison, I was young, only 16, and I had been charged as an adult with attempted murder for the fight. The kids who put up the noose…nothing happened to them. Being in prison, I could only see my parents once a week and it was really hard to get by. But, being in prison, it helped me become a better man in life and become stronger and realize my dreams. I spent over a year in prison, before I took a plea bargain in juvenile court for a simple battery and was given time served and sent home. Since that time, my life hasn’t been easy…a lot of people talk bad about me and the media has portrayed me as someone who I am not…I know the truth about who I am and I know I am not a bad person. The media pushed me to a point where I tried to kill myself, which I didn’t want to do, but that incident has made me a stronger person, and now I can finally see my dream in front of me. On May 13th I will graduate from high school and in the fall I will attend a four-year university on a football scholarship. As me being a young black man I know that Dr. King died for me, so I can be in the position that I am, to become anything I want in life.

-Mychal Bell

45 comments

  • WHAT COLOR HAS BLIND If I could be any other color, what would that be? I'd have to say the color of a race, who'd always protect me! If I could have any pigmentation of skin, what would I want? I'd have to say the pigmentation of a people, who do more than just talk! If I could change the tone of this skin.... I'd want the shade of a people who are quick to defend! What you see- is not what you get, I thought being who I am, i'd see more 'raised closed fists" More 'eyes on the prize' More 'we shall overcome' Is who I thought we were- over and done Brothers are not keepers Sisters are not true believers Mothers are fathers, victims defiled- Husbands make babies that are not of their wives bile- Is this 'the new grey'? A fashion statement fadeaway? 'Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind' similar in color, but not in kind, seeing 20/20- what color has blind!(Dedicated to April Hope Precious Griffin www.youtube.com/freeaprilgriffin
  • I cant believe retards on this page are praising this coon. It makes me sick. A white guy is outnumbers and attacked for nothing by coons but if it was vice versa the whole world would scream racism. In my eyes this coon is nothing but a piece of crap. He has a football scholarship? He probably wants to go to the NFL(N*gger Felon League) and commit more TNB(Typical N*gger Behavior). He should still be in jail for his ATTEMPTED MURDER crime. I have known of shop lifters that got longer sentences. Oh excuse me They were white and not coons. I see how it is now.
    • Some people attempt to hide their ignorance, then there is your post. Do not get me wrong, Mychal has avoided the truth in his blog but the only thing you have avoided is a profile picture of yourself on horse wearing a bed sheet with a burning cross in the background. Your words spill hate that is only remembered as a stain of ignorance.
    • Give me a break. I am sick of people like you feeling sorry for this thug. You are whats wrong with this world. I speak the truth and then you bash me. But this coon damn near killed someone with his gang of thugs and you stick up for him. Remember the pictures of the Jena 6 coons with 100 dollar bills hanging out of their mouths? Yea they suffered alright!
    • once again ignorance has blinded you. I in no way feel sorry for Mychal. In fact, I think he should have been tried on the attempted murder charge. Every element was met for attempted murder. However, my problem is your racism. Racist comments do more damage to the maker than the mark. It shows an inability to communicate and lack of scholarship. Like I said before, your words spill hate that only leaves a stain of ignorance.
    • I got your back on this one Truth! He could have made his point without using the racist statements.
    • That white guy got excatly what he was looking for
    • That boy got just what he was looking for!
    • If the victim got what he deserved, then Mychal got less than he deserved. He should have been convicted of attempted murder. Check the statute out. I bet you will surprise yourself with how loose the elements are for attempted murder One question; Why is it alright for Mychal to inflict damage on another person? Justification only exist because Jena is a racist town, right? Then, why did an innocent person need to be beat up? The only justification is because Mychal is black or because Jena is racist. Either way, Both justifications are products of racism.

    • go kick rocks fool! you are a narrow small minded individual!
    • i might be small minded but you are simplistic and ignorant. Small but diverse beats large and static any day of the week. Your inability to change will be your demise.
    • diverse... you are funny!
  • Legitimizing this thugling is pathetic. Linking him, or allowing him to link himself, to the legacy of Dr. King is an insult to everything he stood for and died for. Shame on your site for posting this trash.





  • Mychal

    Mark Thompson of Make it Plain read you're letter on the air and linked it on twitter and face book. I just wanted to say how much you writing warmed my heart. Stay encouraged dear heart you are truly special!!!



    Blessings**

    Gwen
  • Mychal, I hear you're going to be blogging here regularly, and I look forward to reading what you have to say.

    For instance, I want to know what you have to say about trying to steal $370 from Dillard's just 3 months ago, and why you assaulted the police officer who arrested you.

    I want to know what you have to say about why you were in Olla, Louisiana, last May, speeding with no insurance, when you were supposed to be in Monroe, 50 miles away, as a condition of your weekend pass from juvenile detention.

    I want to know who you beat up in 2005 and 2006 to get TWO juvenile convictions for assault years before you tried to kill Justin Barker. I want to know who the 17-year-old girl was that you punched in the face.

    I want to know what in the HELL someone convicted of MULTIPLE assaults over the course of several years and awaiting trial for theft, resisting arrest, and yet ANOTHER assault, is doing with a GUN in the first place!

    I want to read what you have to say, Mychal.
    • Pardon my typo, I meant to say, "$370 worth of clothes from Dillard's."
  • Bell, you're nothing but a thug, you've always been a thug, and you'll always be a thug. Whoever put those nooses in the tree six months before you tried to kill Justin Barker didn't shed any blood. It was tasteless, but it was harmless. You, on the other hand, are a brutal savage who sheds the blood of an innocent kid, weaker than you, for your own animalistic sense of sport.

    You WILL end up in prison or dead before you're 25. I guarantee it.

  • Mychal, may God always direct your path. No one is perfect, but it's definitely time for a positive change for all of us. Keep going, but most of all believe in God and yourself. At least you will know that our father will never let us down. I support your future, and know that all things will work out according to destiny.



    Lady Justice of GenXTalksUrNews
  • I wish that rape and domestic violence victim April Griffin received at least a 1/4th of support her and her baby Jesse are in danger and she is facing 12 years for protecting her baby and her infant I do applaud you Michael and I just am amazed that young black women are being left to sink or swim when they are screwed by the system anyone that dares to care please sign this petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/439902107)and bring on a massive protest as in Jena 6_PLEASE My sister name is April Griffin she has no criminal record and is being criminally prosecuted for PROTECTING her and her baby from the man who tried to kill her and her baby when she was pregnant a Ugandan name Matthew Sebuliba who is not a U.S. citizen he beat April and forced him self on her sexually she tried to escape her ex many times he offered the court $1 000.00 to take the baby to Africa and if the baby is kidnapped the court keeps the money and they accepted the money they changed her baby name 4 times recently on September 26 2008 Milwaukee police entered April's home without warrants and in plain clothes and pepper sprayed her while she held her baby the baby was sprayed too a 300 pound 6 ft 4 white male cop put his knee in April's back tazed her with the sun gun directly on her spine paralyzed her they also broke the bay bones in the process April is now in the Milwaukee County Jail facing 12 years for a false charge 'interference with custody'-there was not ever a custody hearing the state of Wisconsin asked her to name the father in a PATERNITY hearing to be reimbursed by the father for medical cost she gave them medical documents about rape and abuse-but he came in and offered money-true story-real talk-and help me help her-thank you!
  • Mychal i'm happy to see that you are growing up and able to see that there is a better way to live life...keep going in the direction your headed in and you will succeed in anything you desire to do...

    and wow at some of the comments below...some of you forget that he was 16 when this all started...he was a child and now becoming a man...people are not perfect and they learn from their mistakes in life! its what makes us all human!!!
  • mychal you still need stand proud of youself, you didnt let that white traler trash push you and took a stand and beat him down like he needed. i wish you got picture of him after you beat him so you can put on your website here. you dont need be apoligize for nothin.
    • The problem is this was never black and white. It is people like you that made it black and white. Mychal had some problems as youth. Furthermore, he has had some recent problems. However, the problem has always been that his family and him cherry pick the truth. I really hope this young man goes off to college and succeeds. However, his inability to accept the truth of his actions is making those odds slim.
    • like hell it not black and white. you white always say dumm stuff like that after us black give u beatin you deserve. we take you beatin us for years now it your turn and you not like it.
    • Racism thrives on ignorance and you possess plenty of both.
  • May 10, Mychal Bell was stopped in Olla, Louisiana for speeding and not having proper vehicle insurance while on a weekend pass from his sentence. Bell was not supposed to leave Monroe, Louisiana during the pass. The vehicle was towed due to the lack of insurance. In an interview televised on CNN on August 24, 2008, Bell admitted to striking Barker and called Jena "a real racist town". On August 27, 2008, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association turned down Bell's request for an extra year of athletic eligibility. Marcus Jones, Bell's father, blamed Bell's attorney at the time of the plea agreement for the denial. "If it weren't for his attorney, Mychal would be able to play football," Jones said. "They coerced him into taking that plea agreement. If he wouldn't have taken that plea, he wouldn't be in the position he's in now." After the hearing, Jones allegedly spat in the face of his son's attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, and supposedly also pushed her to the floor. Jones denied assaulting Powell-Lexing, stating he would never get into a physical fight with a woman. Jones has been charged with assault. Despite the alleged assault, Powell-Lexing will continue as part of Bell's defense team. Bell's mother, Melissa Bell, was arrested on October 11, 2008 on two counts of aggravated battery for allegedly hitting two women with a shovel, and was held on $100,000 bail.

    On December 24, 2008, Bell was arrested and charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest, and simple assault. According to police, Bell was caught as he and another male attempted to steal $370 worth of clothing from Dillard's department store. While being arrested, he reportedly fought back against a security guard and off-duty police officer. He was released on $1,300 bond. On December 29, 2008, Bell shot himself in the chest with a .22-caliber pistol in a failed attempt to take his own life, stating to police that he was tired of all the media attention.Since the hospital in Monroe was unable to stop his internal bleeding, Bell was transferred to a hospital in Shreveport for specialist care. Powell-Lexing denied that Bell had tried to kill himself, saying that the gun went off while Bell was attempting to clean it. On January 15, 2009, CNN featured an interview with Bell in which he indicated that he obtained a gun out of despair following the shoplifting arrest, initially tried to shoot himself in the head, but the gun misfired, and that he then shot himself in the chest. Bell stated that he is back in school and still hopes to receive a college football scholarship
  • I'm a white, 55 year old dude living in West Oakland in a very bad hood. 14 years I've been here, and seen my Young neighbors grow up being neglected by white society in every way possible, but what's worse, they're being abandoned by Black society as well.

    How many preachers are full of "fire and brimstone" on Sunday in their fine suit and cower from street children the rest of the week?

    How many old Grandma's go out and play ball with the young kids, and give the "what for" to kids teaching profanity, filth, drugs and proliferating a word I hate more than any other...

    "Niggah".

    Men, it keeps you down. It keeps you from everything, it's like a jew calling himself "shower bait" or a Cambodian claiming to be a relation to Pol Pot.

    It's like every "Hey Niggah"... "Man, That Niggah was... " all of the terms denote a sub human moron. When you talk about yourself like that, do you think the White idiots around you will disagree?
    They LOVE IT! It's like the dog pissing on the floor and looking up and saying "Dog".

    Barack Hussein Obama won the presidency because of his Character, not because it was "time" for a Black Man to be president. The fact that we overlooked color in favor of Character was only made possible by a singular lack of his EVER referring to Himself or his Black Brothers as "n*ggas".

    White society will take every thing from you that you give away, including your Money, Health, Self Respect, Education and Jobs. Being forever a "Niggah" entitles us to demean and suspect you just like the wet legged Dog.

    Begin being Men of Character. Join the No Cussing Club, and Quit ENTITLING White Society to look DOWN on you. You come from Far better than that! I have seen Africa and the most wonderfully majestic people anywhere on earth. You are not "n*ggas" You are the Children of Zulu, Masai, Sudanese, Ethiopians...

    Some of the finest people in the world. For Christs sake stop behaving at odds with everyone and everything. Stop killing your Brothers, calling your sisters WHORES and HO.

    I have seen 8 year old children call their mothers WHORE.

    Please stop it! I can't stand watching a society give up any more. Wasn't the death of Martin Luther King worth SOMETHING TO YOU?
    • ... because it sure as Hell means something to this proud, self respecting and STRONG young Man, Mychal Bell. Go Mychal!
    • Say what ever you like but don't you ever again use the N word ever! I don't care what hood you live in.
  • ...and how many of you all wore Black on that infamous Day?
  • Had he not been convicted on the fight charge, He still would have served a year of jail time. Why? Because between the time he was charged with the fight and the trial he picked up another felony charge. He was sentenced on the unrelated subsquent felony to 18 months. Then, he took a plea deal on the fight case for 12 months (the remainder of his time left on the felony case) to be served concurrent. Therefore, even if the fight charge would have been dropped HE STILL WOULD HAVE SERVED 18 MONTHS BECAUSE HE WAS CONVICTED OF ANOTHER UNRELATED FELONY.
  • When I first heard about your story, my first thought was why would he act in Violence KNOWING THAT YOU ARE IN RACIST ASS LOUISIANA. I know your parents schooled you on how to behave properly when confronted by racist white folk. If they did not then Shame on Them.



    There's a time to laugh

    A time to cry

    A time to live

    and a time to die

    A time to Break

    and a time to Chill

    To get serious or

    Act real Ill.

    {{{B.Girl Stance}}}

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